I was wondering when should I think about getting a tune. I plan to add a few parts but don't know when I will have all the money. I have a friend at work who has had he car tuned 4 times each after he added more stuff, and at 300.00 per tune thats 1200.00 in tunes alone. I am planning to add 4.10 gears I thought about an intake Plenum and throttle body last an X pipe with cats. Should a custom tune be the last thing I should be thinking about?
Also what are your thoughts on an intake plenum and throttle body? Is it worth the money?
man a tune i think unless u tear INTO the motor no need for what u doing ya sure a tune will squeas like 3 or 4 exsta ponys out but that i dont belive is worth the price i know shops around here have a first time charge of 500 and every time after is 300 so id say no.. and yes intake plenum and trottle body all the way go with accufab..
for what you are doing you shouldnt need a custom tune. if you are really set on it though, just get a mail order tune from SCT it should respond well to your mods.
yea just get a handheld tuner with a canned tune will do you fine if you ever supercharge or cams or something bug is when you need a dyno tune..and yes a tb/plenum combo is worth it
I disagree. You need a custom tune when you are finished adding modifications, have full bolt ons, or you do a serious modification ie. heads, cams or supercharger, etc.
My bolt on car gained 18rwhp with a dynotune over a mail order tune, even with a completely stock engine.
If you have a few exhaust and intake tunes, I wouldn't bother with the custom tune until you add a blower or replace your gears, remove the cats or do something else which will require your tune to be changed. I have only gotten a custom tune for my car twice, the first time was for the Saleen blower kit, the second time was when I upped the boost.
You can custom tune all you want, but like was said, you could put a bunch of mods on if you save up that $300 a tune money and then do a custom tune when you are done modding for a while.
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"Ignore that whistle, it's just a vacuum leak."
2000 Mustang GT:
Saleen Series IV Twin Screw, Chicane I/C, AFCO Extreme H/E, 2.8" pulley, FMS 42# injectors, Dual Catted 2 1/2" UPR X Pipe, UPR LCAs/UCAs, 2 1/2" Flowmaster American Thunder kit, 90mm LMAF, 112" Goodyear Gatorback, Kenne Bell BAP, Mosaleen idler, T-56, Detroit TrueTrac w/ 373s, Demolet 100mm CAI, SCT XCal2 with JDM Engineering 93 Octane "Race" tune.
i would highly recommend running a custom email tune. We offer them for $75.00 for one of $125.00 for three. The nice thing about buying a tune from us is that when you get a mod that is tune required a tune revision is free as long as you buy the part from us. You have to realize that a custom dyno tune is not always necessary. The volume that we do of these tunes and the amount of dyno testing we have done can really make getting a custom dyno tune a waste of money. The tune is going to be pretty spot on and definitely a noticeable difference over stock and even a canned SCT tune. Hope this information is beneficial and get ahold of me at 574.594.9559 if you have any other questions and Ill be glad to get you taken care of. Thanks!
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Brian Lichlyter Brenspeed Mustang Performance
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I wouldn't get a custom tune after each individual mod, but a custom dynotune is very beneficial.
Case In Point: People are quick to spend money on catback exhaust for $500 and pick up no horsepower. People always want to spend a grand on headers for 10-15 horsepower. People will spend $200 for a CAI for no gain. People with pay $150 for an X Pipe to gain 5 horsepower. People will pay $400 for a throttle body and plenum to gain 10 horsepower.
Now, everything I've listed is something that you can either see or hear, but makes little to no horsepower, but costs a lot of money. Now, a custom dynotune will usually make more horsepower than any of those mods listed above, but because you can't see or hear it, noone wants to spend the money.
People seem to need to quantify by sight or sound their purchases. I'm not saying I'd pay $400 for a custom tune from just adding a CAI, and then again after an X Pipe, but once you've gotten to the point to where there's no other mods you can do for the money, or you do a single serious mod, a custom dynotune is very worthwhile.
If I wasn't planning on doing anymore mods for a while (6 months or so), I would go ahead and get a dynotune to help maximize the mods I already have. If you are constantly changing mods, and adding stuff, a mail order tune is probably the way to go until you get to where you're slowing down for a while, then hop on the dynotune.
I agree with you Bullet, and I ask the question because there are so many opinions. And like most I am working on a honey comes first budget so I must LOL get the most bang for my buck. I will add I think people buy things you can here and feel because most are not going to the track or can afford to break the speed barrier. so the next best thing to going really fast is to sound and feel like your going really fast. LOL Thank you all for your answeres!!!
When to to get a custom tune? 
man a tune i think unless u tear INTO the motor no need for what u doing ya sure a tune will squeas like 3 or 4 exsta ponys out but that i dont belive is worth the price i know shops around here have a first time charge of 500 and every time after is 300 so id say no.. and yes intake plenum and trottle body all the way go with accufab..
